


A Teacher's Romance

by Scottish_Nxte



Category: Waterloo Road (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Teachers, Canon LGBTQ Character, England (Country), High School, LGBTQ Character, LGBTQ Themes, M/M, School, Side Story, Students
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-05
Updated: 2021-02-11
Packaged: 2021-03-17 14:41:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,308
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29227161
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Scottish_Nxte/pseuds/Scottish_Nxte
Summary: Matt Wilding is feeling rather lonely after breaking up with his partner before the new term began at Waterloo Road Comprehensive school. However, an extra music teacher and the help of his friends Jasmine Koreshi and Steph Haydock may just change everything.WATERLOO ROAD SEASON 4 SIDE PLOT
Relationships: Matt Wilding/OC





	1. Character Biographies

**Character Biographies:**

Just some information for y'all to know before the fic starts properly. (In order to fully get the characters and their personalities, you need to have watched Waterloo Road. But, if you haven't it's open to interpretation).

**Matt Wilding:**

****

Matt is currently the schools music and drama teacher. He is extremely enthusiastic and passionate about his job and will work constantly at things that interest him. During the summer break, he broke up with his partner after tensions over the holiday. This has a subtle effect on his mood which is quickly picked up by his best friend and colleague, Jasmine.

**Ellis Addington**

Ellis has been newly hired by Rachel Mason as a secondary Music and Drama teacher. He is an extremely friendly man and is willing to get along with everybody. He is extremely passionate but can be quite stubborn when it comes to decisions, leading to some small initial clashes with Matt. Ellis is also openly gay, something that is rare in schools.

**Jasmine Koreshi**

Jasmine is one of the school's English teachers and a close friend to Matt Wilding. She doesn't tolerate anyone's crap and is frequent to call them out on it, that includes some of her fellow staff members (specifically Grantly Budgen). However, she is also a close friend and ally to those who need it.

**Steph Haydock**

****

Steph is currently the Head of French at Waterloo Road. She has a rather maternal nature which is displayed many times. She has a bond with the staff and students who generally ignore the fact that she is rather rubbish at teaching French. She is also a close friend and comfort to those who need it.

_Chapter 1 coming soon kids!_


	2. New Term, New Beginnings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It is the start of a new term at Waterloo Road Comprehensive school, which of course brings many surprises in it's trail.

Matt Wilding pulled up into the all too familiar car park outside of Waterloo Road school. It was the start of a new term, hopefully a better one after the chaos of the previous term which culminated with part of the school burning down. He got out of his car and took his things out of the boot before locking the car behind him. He walked through the entrance and up to his classroom before placing the things down and making his way up to the staffroom.

As he arrived into the staffroom, he noticed that Steph and Jasmine were already there. They both smiled as Matt entered the room and Steph got up to hug him.

“Hello, stranger.”

“Hi, Steph. Good holiday?”

Their conversation was briefly interrupted by Grantly Budgen walking into the room, as cheerful as ever.

“Do you two mind, we already see enough of that with the pupils.” 

Steph rolled her eyes at him. “Well, Grantly. Some of us know how to show an emotion that isn’t grumpiness.”

Jasmine took a sip of her tea. “No change in Grantly I see.”

“Wouldn’t expect anything less.” Matt walked over and sat down next to Jasmine.

Jasmine and Steph both noticed that Matt seemed a little bit off. They exchanged a glance while Steph went to fix Matt up with a cup of coffee.

“Matt, is everything alright? We are here if you need to talk.”

“I’m fine Jasmine, honestly.” He smiled at his friend and looked over to Steph. “You doing me a coffee?”

“I am indeed. You owe me one at break.”

Steph passed the mug down to Matt and took a seat as Eddie Lawson, the deputy head walked into the room.

“Morning, all. New term. As we all know, Miss Mason is coming back today. Matt, do the choir know what they are doing?”

“Yep, the choir agreed to come in over the summer break for some extra rehearsal, I’m confident everything will go to plan.”

“Great. I can’t wait to see what you’ve got planned.”

“You’ll love it, I promise you.”

“Another thing. Nobody is to make any mention of the fire that happened last term, I understand it’s still very raw in the minds of many, given that we did lose people in that fire. This is a new term, it may be hard but I want us to put that behind us for all of our sakes.”

Everybody gave a collective nod. The fire was terrible and could have easily been prevented. They lost Bridget, the school secretary to the fire and very nearly lost Rachel. Eddie was right, it was a new term and a perfect time to move on.

“Right, assembly time.”

Matt quickly downed his coffee in one gulp and followed the rest of the teachers out of the room and down to the hall. While on their way to the hall, they walked past someone who was obviously new to the school. Matt and the stranger exchanged a brief look before Matt turned away and looked where he was going to avoid walking straight into Jasmine. 

As they walked into the assembly hall, most of the students had already been gathered with the choir in their position at the side of the hall. Matt made a beeline over to the choir.

“Morning, Sir.” One of the students that spoke was Aleesha Dillon, a loyal member of the choir who was a bit of a troublemaker.

“Morning, Aleesha. Does everybody definitely know their lines?”

“Of course we do, Sir. We’ve sung them so many times they are basically stuck inside our head.”

“Great.”

Eddie quickly left the room and returned with Rachel in tow. That was the cue to start singing. Matt quickly jogged over to the piano and began to play it. Thankfully, Matt’s fears were qualmed and everybody knew the words. He got a quick glance up to notice that Rachel was all smiles, the plan was a success. 

Once the choir had finished singing, he got up from the piano and walked over to his seat which was next to Jasmine. He watched as Rachel began to speak about her plans for the new school year, which was interrupted by Steph whispering in his ear.

“Hey, have you seen Grantly?”

“No.”

“I can’t wait to hear what he has to say about all this touchy feely crap.”

Matt couldn’t help but chuckle before turning his attention back to Rachel. After a while of Rachel talking about her plans, everybody was dismissed. Matt and Jasmine made their way to the back of the room where they noticed some new faces, who were obviously new teachers. 

“That was quite a speech she gave. I was overcome with emotion.”

Jasmine gave him a knowing look.

“You mister, are overcome with a hangover.”

“Well, I had a big night.”

“You’ve been having a big night every night since you and Colin split. Why don’t you get yourself out there and try to move on from him.”

Jasmine’s eyes wandered over to Rob, the new head of PE who was introducing himself to Tom.

“Oh for god's sake Jasmine, put your tongue back in. I bet the only dribbling that Mr Muscle is into is on the football field.

“A sports joke? Very good.”

“Well, I’ve been practicing.”

“Well, I’m not interested.” As Jasmine said that, her eyes wandered back over to Rob.

“Yep, I can see that.”

“Listen, I don’t date my colleagues because it’s unprofessional. Anyway if I was going to go out with someone from the staff room it wouldn’t be a PE teacher.”

Matt looked over and noticed Rob making his way over, he had to warn her to avoid an awkward situation.

“Jasmine.”

“I’m serious. Imagine going out with someone who goes to work in their tracksuit and plimsolls.”

Matt watched as Rob walked over and seemingly paid no attention to what Jasmine said.

“I just wanted to say hello, I’m Rob.”

“Matt, nice to meet you.”

Jasmine and Rob exchanged an awkward introduction before Rob walked away.

“Tell me, he didn’t hear all of that.”

“He didn’t hear all of it, just most of it.”

Jasmine sighed as the man that they passed in the staffroom earlier began walking up to them. 

“Hiya, my name is Ellis Addington. I’ve been hired as a music and drama teacher.”

Matt gave him a slightly confused look.

“Really? Nobody told me that I was getting someone else. I’m Matt Wilding, Head of Music and Drama.”

“I was hired by Eddie Lawson following the popularity of Music and Drama here. I look forward to working with you.”

Matt took in the man's appearance, he was well kept with a short beard and generally handsome. He was quite easy on the eyes.

“Yeah, It’ll be great. It’s nice to meet you, Ellis.”

Ellis introduced himself to Jasmine then walked off, Matt couldn’t help but look at him as he walked off.

“And you say I need to put my tongue back in?” Jasmine gave a smirk. “Come on, time for lessons.” They both walked off to take their registration classes.

* * *

As Matt walked to the staffroom after his Registration class, he looked out into the car park and seen a family scuffling with each other and a taxi driver, which was quickly broken up by Rachel. He was joined by Grantly and Steph.

“I wonder if Miss Mason is going to give them the “everyone belongs here” treatment.”

“Ey, give her a chance Grantly.”

“You never know, they might prove you wrong.”

Grantly scoffed at them. “Giving the state of that lot, I find that to be unlikely.”

Later on in the day, he was meeting his new Year 10s. He walked into the room and noticed one of the girls from the family earlier was sitting at the back. He had most of them in Year 9, but he introduced himself nonetheless.

“Right, my name is Mr Wilding for those of you who don’t know me. I can see some new faces around the room. So what we are going to do is go around the room and say our names.”

“Sir, we don’t want to play a stupid game like that.”

“It’s not a game. Why don’t you start us off.”

The girl scoffed a bit before eventually speaking. “My name is Sambuca.”

“Great to meet you, Sam. Let’s move onto you there.”

As they went around the room, everybody said their name before landing back on Matt.

“Right, good. So, now we are going to move on to what we are going to start off with this term.”

Matt was interrupted by a knock on the door and turned to see Ellis looking into the room. 

“Mr Wilding, can I borrow some music sheets?”   
  
“Yeah, they are just up the back.”

Ellis nodded and quickly made his way up to the back of the room.

“Anyway, first we are going to look at the works of Beethoven which means we will also be analysing them. I’ll explain more in a little while, but since it’s the first day we are going to take it easy.”

“Borringgg.” Sam called out once Matt had finished, which was instantly caught by Ellis who moved on her like a vulture to its prey.

“You, outside now.”

Matt was a little bit taken aback by this before following Ellis and Sambuca out into the corridor.

“Care to explain why you found it necessary to speak back to Mr Wilding?”

“Music is boring, I never asked to be at this stupid school nor in this stupid lesson.”

“Well, you can at least try and put a bit of effort in here even if this is your only day. Inside please.”

Matt opened the door and Sambuca walked in.

“Mr Addington, wait for a second.”

Ellis turned back to look at him. “Yeah?”

“You know I could’ve handled that situation on my own, right?”

“I know but I didn’t want you to be distracted from teaching.”

“Well, thanks for the concern but I had it handled. Listen, just don’t discipline my students for me while it’s in my class.”

“Sure.”

Ellis turned on his heel and wandered off to the staffroom, Matt sighed and walked back in. This was going to be difficult.

“Show’s over. Back to your seats.”

The rest of the lesson passed by with minimal event, except with the odd chimes from Sambuca. After the lesson had concluded, Matt took a trip up to Rachel’s office. He knocked on the door and she beckoned him in.

“Matt, good of you to stop by.”

“How are you doing, Rachel?”

“Yeah I’m doing good. I’ve had a bit of drama with a new family but things are going smoothly.”

“On the subject, Sambuca Kelly.”

“What about her?”   
  
“She’s actually rather bright. She tends to mouth off quite a bit, but during today’s class she actually gave some really good answers.”

“Is she settling in then?”   
  
“I’m not sure. It’s rather hard to tell.”

“Right, well. If you think she’s doing good then that's quite a start. Maybe you could check up on her every so often when you have time? Just to make sure she’s settling in. We need them to feel welcome here, Matt.”

“Yeah! I can certainly do that. Listen, I’ve got to run as I’ve got Year 12.”

“Oh just one more quick thing.”

“Yeah?”

“How is Mr Addington settling in? I don’t know much about the man considering he was hired by Eddie while I was recovering.”

“Yeah I think he’s doing fine, I haven’t seen much of him so far but I think he’s doing okay.”

“Right, good. I won’t keep you any longer.”

Rachel smiled and Matt walked out of the office. The rest of the day passed without a single event… that was until the last period started. 

* * *

Matt was busy teaching his Year 7s about the basics of reading sheet music with Mr Addington watching when he was interrupted by Miss Mason coming in. She looked rather hurried and was walking with a sense of urgency.

“Miss Mason?”

“Apologies, Mr Wilding. May I quickly speak to your class.”

“Sure.”

Matt walked to the side of the room and Ellis walked over to him.

“Right. We need you all to gather your things and make your way out to the car park. You need to do this in absolute silence and as quick as you can. Mr Wilding will be doing a register once you are all outside. Please do this now.”

Matt and Ellis exchanged a few worried glances.

“Right, get your things and make sure you take everything.” Matt walked to the desk and picked up the register as Ellis walked over to him.

“What do you think is going on?”

“Not sure, Ellis. Best we just get out.”

Ellis nodded and followed Matt out of the room.

“Lewis, I thought we said no talking. As quiet as you can everyone, stay calm.”

Matt and Ellis followed behind them as they walked through the corridors and out to the car park. As they were walking, they met up with Jasmine and Steph. They had to speak in hushed tones.

“Why are they evacuating us?”

“Not sure Matt, but this better be quick.”

The four of them exchanged a slightly concerned glance as they walked out to the car park. Matt and Ellis walked over to one part and called the class over. Matt began ticking off all the names on the register. Afterwards, all they could do was wait to be let back into the school. 

A few minutes passed and Rachel came out of the building. It seemed that not everybody was accounted for. Suddenly, a gunshot rang out from inside the building which prompted extreme panic from the students. The teachers and the police quickly hurried everybody as far away from the entrance as they could. Donte Charles ran out of the building with blood on his shirt, but he hadn’t been shot.

Ellis turned to Matt. 

“Bloody hell. A gun?”

“Never a dull day at Waterloo Road.”

Matt watched as Rachel ran into the building. All they could do was wait and hope that she would get out alive. After about ten maybe fifteen minutes, Rachel walked out of the school building with Denzil Kelly next to her, the person missing from the gathering. He watched as he was taken away by the police who then deemed the school clear to re-enter. Rather than send everyone back to class, Rachel allowed everyone to leave early. Matt went to his classroom and put things away before grabbing his stuff and going up to the staffroom.

He saw Jasmine, Steph and Davina sitting on the sofas, Matt joined them.

Jasmine sighed. “Somebody brought a gun into this school. We need more measures here. No kid should have brought a gun here.”

Steph nodded. “I know. It’s been a very eventful day. Hey, why don’t we all go to the pub?”

Tom walked over to join them. “Did somebody say pub?”

They nodded collectively and picked up their bags, as they were walking out Ellis was walking in.

“Where are you all going?”

Steph grabbed him by his arm. “Come on you, it’s a tradition here to go to the pub for a drink or two after the day is done. You aren’t excluded from it.”

Ellis chuckled and walked out to the car park. “I didn’t bring my car, I came by bus.”

“I’ll give you a lift if you want.” Matt opened the passenger door for Ellis to use.

“Yeah, alright.” 

Matt put his stuff in the boot and they both got in the car, he rolled down his window to shout over to Steph. 

“See you at the pub in about 30 minutes yeah?”

Steph waved as they drove off. Matt reversed his car out and drove out of the grounds.

“So, I normally go and drop off my stuff as well as the car at my house, saving me carrying it all later. I don’t like to drink and drive either.”

“Yeah, that sounds good. Can I drop my stuff at your place?”

“Of course.”

“Look Matt, I think we got off a bit on the wrong foot earlier. I’m glad to be working with you.”

“So am I.” They shook hands with each other and held it for a while before pulling apart.

“Tell me, Ellis. What made you choose Waterloo Road?”

“I saw the school was in need of a new music teacher, I was having some horrible luck getting a job so I applied and got it.”

“As you’ve learned today, it’s never a smooth day at Waterloo Road. There is always something going on.”

Ellis chuckled. “Yeah, but smooth days are boring.”

“Good point.”

Matt pulled up to his apartment building and took their stuff out of the boot before locking the car and walking upstairs to his apartment. He unlocked the door and let Ellis in first.

“Damn, Matt. You’ve got a lovely place here.”

“It’s home.”

Matt put Ellis’ stuff down on the kitchen countertop.

“Just remind me to stop by here later so we can get the stuff.”

“Yeah alright.”

“Right, pub?”

“Let’s go.”

Matt led Ellis out of the apartment and along to the pub, which was about a 10 minute walk away. They got in and took their usual seats up at the bar. Shortly after they arrived, so did Tom, Davina, Jasmine, Steph and Grantly.

Ellis chimed up first. “What's your poison? I’ll pay.”

Everybody smirked to themselves as they said what they were having. Ellis paid for their drinks.

Steph whispered to Matt. “I did some digging and I found out that he’s also gay.”

“Steph! That isn’t your concern.”

“I know, but I noticed your little glances you were giving him today. I’m not stupid.”

“I wasn’t glancing at him.”

Matt’s eyes wandered over to him as he was talking to Tom.

“Whatever you say.”

* * *

The evening was spent getting to know each other. It got to around nine at night which meant everybody started to return home. Rachel had come by and promised that there would be extra security on the school to prevent any more weapons getting in, she also bought them a drink. Matt was holding onto Ellis as they walked back to the apartment, with Jasmine bringing up the other side.

Jasmine looked over at Matt. “How much has he had?”

“I’m not sure, but I’m sure it was quite a bit.”

Ellis got out of their grasps and stood proudly. “I am stone cold sober.” He then proceeded to fall down.

“You are in no fit state to go home yourself, Ellis. You can stay with me tonight.” Matt offered him a hand and Ellis took it.

“You are amazing.”

Jasmine gave Matt a smirk and the usual 10 minute walk took about half an hour due to Ellis constantly wanting to slow down. Jasmine helped bring Ellis into the spare room that Matt had before taking her leave.

Matt turned away as Ellis got undressed and under the covers in the spare bed. Matt sat on the end of the bed, but he couldn’t help but gawp at Ellis’ bare shoulders. He must’ve worked out.

“If you need anything, I’ll be in the next room, okay?”

Ellis nodded at him and turned around to go to sleep. Matt couldn’t help but chuckle at how innocent and childlike he looked when he was sleeping. Matt walked into the living room and turned on the television. There was nothing on and Ellis was out for the count so he decided to go to bed.

As soon as Matt’s head hit the pillow, he was out for the count.


	3. Growing Closer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ellis and Matt grow closer, a wild night at a pub and a new student being bullied. What else could go wrong?

It was the second week of term at Waterloo Road. Security had been heightened from the events of last week, with security guards and metal detectors at the entrance. Matt parked up in his usual spot, next to Jasmine’s car. He got out and took out some of his boxes, including something Ellis left at his house last week. He glanced over and saw Ellis pulling up in his own car, he then got out and waved to Matt before walking over to him.

“Morning, Matt.” Ellis walked over with a slight smile on his face. “Is that the music stuff I left at yours?”

“Yeah, it is. I’m sorry I was meaning to bring it to yours over the weekend, but I kept forgetting.” Matt handed him the box and picked up his own stuff.

“Last week was eventful wasn’t it?” Ellis began walking into the school with Matt following.

“Yeah. Never seen anything like it.”

Matt walked into the building with Ellis and attempted to pass through the scanner until he got beeped. The security guard quickly searched him before letting through. Ellis also got beeped but had nothing on him.

Ellis sighed and looked back. “Those scanners are really oversensitive.”

Matt nodded. “I bet you Grantly Budgen will probably have loads to say about those security scanners. He’ll probably reference the fact that there was no need for them when he started teaching.”

Their conversation was interrupted by Karla Bentham walking up the corridor towards him with a piece of paper in her hands.

Matt smiled. “Good Morning, Karla. What’s this?”

“Mr Wilding. I don’t really understand the question about the works of Sondheim. I tried researching but I couldn’t find the answer.

Matt reassured her. “Don’t worry, come and see me at lunchtime and we can look at the question together.” Matt suddenly remembered he had plans at lunchtime. “I’m sorry Karla, but I just remembered I’ve got plans at lunchtime.”

Ellis chimed in after watching the encounter. “Karla, is it?”

Karla nodded.

Ellis took a look at the sheet. “If Mr Wilding is busy, why don’t we go to my classroom and we can have a look at it if you want.”

Karla thought for a second. “I don’t want you to do it, I want Mr Wilding to do it.”

Ellis helped Karla relax a bit. “You’ll be fine. Sondheim is difficult for everybody, maybe you can have a cup of tea with me in my classroom too while we take a look at this. Would you like that?”

Karla nodded.

Ellis smiled. “Well, let’s go then.”

Matt was astounded at how well he was able to handle Karla. “I’ll see you at break, Mr Addington.”

“See you at break.” Ellis waved to him as he walked down the corridor with Karla, who was now happily talking to him.

Matt walked inside the staffroom and saw Tom over at the kettle. “Tom, could you do me a cuppa?”

“Yeah, two sugars right?” Tom got to work making Matt a cup of tea.

“Spot on.” Matt quickly checked his pigeon hole, hoping that somebody loved him enough to send him some mail. Nothing, typical. He then walked over to the sofas and sat down next to Jasmine who was doing a crossword. “What are you doing, Jasmine?”

“Trying to figure out this crossword. Country in the north, nine down.” She put the end of her pen into her mouth trying to figure out what it was.

“Greenland.” Matt spoke as he took his cup of tea from Tom.

“Good shout, it fits perfectly.” Jasmine wrote it down on her book before putting it down on the table and picking up her own coffee. “I noticed you came in with Ellis today.”

“Yeah, what of it?” Matt took a sip of his tea. “Perfect, Tom.”

“Nothing, you two have just been spending a lot of time together.. Driving into school together..” Jasmine gave him a slight smile.

“No! God… No. We are just friends, he lives on the road I drive on to come here, so I pick him up. I’m just being nice.” 

“Right… nice.” Jasmine bit into a biscuit and took another sip.

Steph Haydock wandered into the staffroom, peppy as ever before making a beeline over to Matt and Jasmine. “Bonjour.”

Matt gave her a small wave. “Someone’s happy this morning.”

Steph sat down and crossed her legs. “I’m just in a good mood. Hey, did you two hear that Rachel has hired someone to take the adult education course.”

Jasmine put her mug down. “Didn’t you apply for it?”

Steph nodded. “I did, but Rachel didn’t hire me for it.”

Matt sighed. “Sorry, Steph. You lost Pastoral Care and now this.”

Steph picked up a biscuit. “No, it’s fine. I’m sure whoever Rachel hired was good enough.”

As if on cue, Rachel walked into the room being followed by a blonde woman. “Morning everyone, this is Melissa Ryan. She’s heading up our new adult education course. I know you’ll all make her feel really welcome.”

The staff members all got introduced to Melissa. Once they had both left, Matt and Jasmine moved over into the kitchen as Rob arrived.

Matt put his mug down. “Have I heard right, your starting up a boxing club in school?”

Rob nodded. “Yeah, starts today.”

Matt looked ahead. “Boxing.”

Rob put his water down in the fridge. “Yeah boxing, you know.”

Matt then put his hands in his pocket, he was slightly skeptical about this sort of club as he didn’t really condone violence. “Yeah, like dog fighting? But with boys instead of dogs.”

Rob poured himself out a glass of water. “Schools that do boxing all report a decline in bullying, it’s a fact.”

Jasmine leaned on the countertop. “Do you think Rachel will go with it?”

Rob met her eyes. “I’m certain, she’s going to get the full Cleaver sales pitch.”

Jasmine gave a smile. “Poor woman.”  
Rob and Jasmine then exchanged a look with each other, basically picture love eyes. Matt looked between them both before rolling his eyes and wandering off to his classroom. First period was his Year 10s, he got into his classroom just as the bell rang. 

He took out some sheets and laid them out before going into the corridor to greet his class. As his class filed in, he marked them off one by one on the register, he walked into the room and set them to work looking at the music of Beethoven.

The morning passed by rather quickly, and before Matt knew it it was break time. He walked up to the staffroom and met up with both Jasmine and Steph along the way. They made themselves a cup of tea and got settled in their usual spot, the trio tried to mind their own business but couldn’t help but overhear Rob “firing” Tom from his position as captain of the girls football team. Grantly was also muttering away about how education has taken a dive now that there were adults in the school.

Matt and Jasmine had an inkling that the new security guard had a slight infatuation for Steph, having gifted her an Eiffel Tower. Almost on cue, he walked into the room and made a beeline for Steph, Matt cleared his throat to get her attention. 

Steph turned and she looked like she wanted the ground to swallow her up. “Hi, Dave.”

Dave looked over at her. “Hi.”

Steph watched as he walked over. “Everything okay?”

Dave walked over to her and pulled out a box. “Fine, fine.” He opened up the box which had a Chorley cake inside it. “I thought you might like a Chorley Cake.”

Matt turned to look at Jasmine and they both had to stifle a giggle at how awkward the encounter was. It was evident that Dave meant well, but it wasn’t working.

Steph looked down at the cake and there was a moment of silence. “Right, thank you very much.”

There was another moment of silence as Dave smiled at her, while Steph awkwardly stared back. Dave then spoke. ”Nice with a cup of tea.”

Almost on cue, Matt held out his own cup of tea with a smirk on his face. Steph dipped the chorley cake into the mug and took a bite. She didn’t like it much but she had to be polite. “Mmm, lovely.”

“Less calories than an Eccles cake, that’s why it won’t do as much damage to your waistline.” Matt didn’t think that Dave knew that that sounded rude. The encounter got even more awkward as Dave asked Steph to spend lunch with him, she didn’t even say yes but he assumed it was happening before turning and walking out the room.

Steph’s eyes moved to the floor while Matt and Jasmine continued to stifle a giggle. Matt waited until Dave was out of earshot before speaking again. “Get in there, Security Da-” His sentence was cut off by Steph forcefully shoving the Chorley cake into his mouth.

Jasmine laughed and turned over to Steph. “Steph, he’s absolutely infatuated with you.”

Steph turned to look at her. “I know, I’m not smitten by him as he’s not my type at all.”

Matt smirked before finishing his tea and getting up. “Maybe you should give it a shot, Steph. What’s the worst that could happen?”

Steph met his eyes. “He could turn out to be a raging psychopath. Bore off with that, Matt.”

Matt smiled and made his way down to the Music classroom to see Ellis, the door was unlocked with a note on the desk that read. “To Matt, I’m in the gym.” Matt nodded and locked the door behind him before making his way over to the gym. He walked through the men’s locker room and called out. “Ellis, you in here?”

Ellis emerged from around the corner wearing a towel… and only a towel. Matt didn’t know where to look for a second, he wouldn’t admit it but he did look rather good. Ellis blushed sheepishly a little bit as he wasn’t expecting him to show up that soon. “Oh my, this is awkward.”

Matt gazed up at the ceiling but he couldn’t stop his eyes wandering down. “I’m so sorry, I saw the note. I didn’t think you would’ve been showering.”

“No, it was my fault. Let me quickly go and get dressed.” Ellis disappeared back to dry off and put his work clothes back on which consisted of a red sweater, shirt and tie, black formal trousers and black shoes. “What’s up?” Ellis sat down on the bench and gestured for Matt to join him.

“I was just wondering how things went with Karla this morning?” He sat down next to him and looked at him.

“Yeah, things went fine with Karla. She was really worried about one of the questions, but I gave her a cup of tea and a biscuit which helped calm her nerves a little bit. I explained the question to her and she understood it.” Ellis explained the situation with Karla, he knew that she had Aspergers from the moment he met her. Luckily for Ellis, at his previous school he had to deal with many students that had Aspergers, so he was experienced.

“Right, well. Good. I’m glad she understood it. Karla can be a bit of a handful, but she doesn’t mean it. She’s a good girl.” Matt spoke then stood up. “Could you drop by and see me before lunch, I’ve got a free period. Miss Mason wants us to work together on the mock exams as well as getting an idea at the level everyone is working at.”

Ellis nodded and smiled. “Sure, I can do that.”

Matt nodded and walked back to his classroom.

Matt arrived at his classroom just as the bell rang. Year 12s, always the joy considering he had Paul Langley and Bolton Smilie, some of the schools most misbehaved boys in his class. He walked into the classroom and let everybody in before taking a register. Everybody was present so far.

“Bolton Smilie?” Matt called out as he glanced around the room.

“Here, Sir.” Bolton met his eyes and turned to Paul while stifling a giggle.

“Has anybody seen Phillip Ryan, he’s a new boy.” Matt looked around the room for any new faces, but to no avail. He looked over at Paul and Bolton laughing at each other. “Okay Bolton, I can see you're dying to tell me what it is you and the rest of the class know that I don’t.”

Bolton turned to him with a smirk. “He had to answer the call of nature, Sir.”

Matt’s gaze flickered between them both and he began to go and look for him. “Wait here, nobody leaves.” He walked out of the classroom and closed the doors, walking with a sense of urgency to try and find Philip and hopefully rescue him from whatever Bolton and Paul have done. Call of nature usually meant using the bathroom, which was his first port of call. He walked past Jasmine Koreshi who was on her way outside. “Jas, have you seen Phillip Ryan? He’s a new boy.”

“No, I’ve not. Was he a no show?” Jasmine shook her head.

Matt nodded. “I’m afraid so, but Bolton Smilie and Paul Langley were laughing about something in class, so I think they’ve got something to do with it. Could you supervise my Year 12s while I find him?”

Jasmine nodded. “Sure thing.” They both then walked off, Jasmine towards the Music class while Matt continued checking every bathroom he came across.

He had checked most bathrooms but to no avail until he walked into the boys toilets near the English department. He heard some small calls for help before checking every stall until he found one that was closed. He knocked it gently and called out. “Phillip, are you in here? It’s Mr Wilding, I’m your Music teacher.” There was silence from inside the stall. “There’s nobody else in here, it’s just me.”

Philip timidly spoke up. “I can’t come out.”

Matt walked to lean on the wall. “Why not, are you locked in?” He opened the door to find Philip with boxing equipment on and tied to the pipes by two of the school ties, which were clearly Bolton and Paul’s. Matt walked in and quickly untied him. “Who did this to you, Philip?”

Philip looked at him then down at the floor. “It was Bolton and Paul.”

Matt sighed, he had a feeling it was them. “Come on, let’s get you back to class quickly so we can sort this out. He walked with Philip back to the class and let him in. Matt wasn’t one for getting angry, but when it was a practical joke involving another student, it really riled him up. He walked in and saw that Jasmine was out of breath from trying to calm the Year 12s down.

His head turned straight to Bolton and Paul before raising his voice. “Both of you, straight to the cooler. Now! How dare you play such a nasty trick on a new student, get out and go straight to the cooler.” He then turned back to Jasmine. “Jasmine, I’m sorry but can you hold the fort for a bit longer?” Matt passed her the work they were doing. “Just get them started on this, it’s stuff they know already.”

Jasmine nodded and watched as Matt led Philip out. “Right, that’s enough. Sit down, show’s over. Get started on this work please.”

Matt and Philip walked behind Bolton and Paul before letting them into the cooler, where Eddie Lawson was supervising.

“Mr Wilding, something happened?” Eddie stood up and walked over to them. 

Matt crossed his arms. “Bolton and Paul decided to tie Philip up in the boys bathroom.”

Eddie scowled at Bolton and Paul. “Bolton, you sit over there. Paul, over there.” Eddie pointed over to different seats in the completely opposite parts of the room. “Thanks, Mr Wilding.”

Matt led Philip out and they both turned towards Miss Mason’s office.

Philip nervously spoke. “Sir, will Miss Mason find out?”

Matt looked at him. “She will, she’s pretty zero-tolerant on bullying. Your Mum will also want something done about it.” Matt knew that Melissa Ryan was Philip’s Mum, and he knew that she wouldn’t be happy. He certainly wouldn’t be.

Philip was even more nervous. “What’s she got to do with it?”

Matt sighed. “Philip, this is your first day. We can’t let something as serious as this slip by like that.”  
Philip met his eyes. “Can’t we just forget about it.”

Matt sighed again and stopped walking. “Listen, I know it’s hard standing up to bullies, but.”

Philip then asked. “What’s going to happen to them?”

Matt looked around before whispering. “If it was up to me, I’d suspend them for a week. Come on, let’s go and see Miss Mason.”

Philip ran ahead of him to try and stop him. “No, sir. You can’t.”

Matt continued to speak with hushed tones. “Just tell her your worries.”

“Sir, I can’t. She’s my aunt.” Philip was getting nervous as he wasn’t meant to tell anyone.

Matt gave a skeptic look. “Who is? Miss Mason? The headteacher?”

Philip nodded. “Yep, but I wasn’t meant to say anything.”

Matt gave a smirk and nodded before making a beeline to Steph’s classroom as everybody was being dismissed. He walked into her room and wobbled excitedly on his feet. “Ask me who Rachel Mason’s sister is.”

Steph got up and began putting things away. “She hasn’t got a sister.”

Matt looked around. “Oh she does and she works here. Melissa Ryan.”

Steph gasped. “No way.”

Matt nodded. “Yep, her nephew just told me.”

Steph put a hand on her hip and looked around. She wasn’t happy about being turned down for Rachel’s sister.

Matt then left the room and walked up to the English corridor to tell Tom and Grantly, who also went for the position. “It better be A Grades all the way.”

Grantly glanced up. “It’s just naked nepotism. Putting me through the charade of a selection process, she can’t do that.”

Matt glanced out of the window. “Didn’t this happen a few years ago, a headteacher got sacked for giving her sister a job.”

Tom looked at them both. “If it’s a non-teaching post she can appoint whoever she wants.”  
Matt nodded. “I understand that, but it’s more the fact it sounds like bias when she could’ve turned down plenty of other good applicants.” Matt began making his way back down to the music classroom when he saw Eddie storming towards Rachel's office. He knew to himself that he wasn’t happy.

Matt made his way into the music classroom where Ellis was sitting behind the desk doing some marking. “Hey Ellis.”

Ellis stood up to greet him. “Oh Matt, hey. Have a seat.”

Matt took a seat at one of the tables, with Ellis on the other side. Matt put his mug down and took out some sheets. “Basically, Rachel wants us to observe the students and see if they would be suited for a higher level or if they need to stick at the same one or be dropped down.”

Ellis took a look at the sheets. “This is only the second week, it’s way too early to even think about their academic ability.”

Matt nodded. “I know, but I’m not going to raise it with Rachel as I think she’s got enough on her plate.

Ellis glanced up. “How do you mean?”

Matt leaned in. “Rachel did interviews last week for a new position within the school, some of the staff applied and she hired her own sister.

Ellis gasped. “No way.”

Matt smirked. “Way. Some of the teachers aren’t happy about it at all.”

Ellis took a sip of his coffee. “God, I can imagine. I’m not normally one for gossip but sometimes I love it when it’s good.”

Matt chuckled. “Be prepared, this year is going to be full of it. Shall we get down to marking.”

Ellis nodded. “Yeah, let’s do it.”

The day passed without many events going on. Lunch was tense and slightly awkward as Steph and Melissa got into a near argument about the job. Melissa surprisingly won the argument. Matt knew it was awkward for Rachel, but he couldn’t fully forgive her as she should’ve known what she was getting into. 

The day was rather boring compared to what happened last week. The end of the school day came relatively quickly and all of the teachers agreed to go to the pub. Steph unwillingly agreed to meet Security Dave at the pub too. They all got there at around five in the evening.  
Matt walked in with Ellis and made his way up to the bar to order a vodka and coke. Ellis ordered himself a Gin and Tonic. Steph was already at the bar, while Grantly was snoozing elsewhere.

“So Steph, is your lover boy coming to meet you?” Matt took a sip of his drink before placing it back down.

“Shove off Matt. He’s not my lover boy, we aren’t even friends. I don’t know what his deal is but he hasn’t left me alone.” Steph looked over and noticed that Jasmine and Rob were sitting elsewhere and happily talking. “Jasmine looks infatuated with Rob.”

Matt glanced over himself. “Yeah, she does.” As he was turning back to the bar, he noticed Eddie walking in with Melissa. “Hiya Eddie, Melissa.”

A while passed and they were all beginning to feel the effects of their rather strong drinks. Steph and Matt were getting to know Melissa a bit more, ultimately she wasn’t that bad. They found it rather funny when Melissa was telling them the story about why the projector wasn’t working, turned out it wasn’t switched on. Eddie got his pint and they both went to sit elsewhere.

Steph quickly popped out of the bathroom and noticed that Security Dave was walking in. She quickly ducked down behind the bar

Matt put his drink down and walked over to her. “What are you playing at?”

Steph tried to hush him. “Shush, it’s Security Dave.”

Matt didn’t hear her so he asked again, which ultimately got Dave’s attention. Steph’s idea was rumbled. She quickly pretended that she had dropped her drink on the floor, which was followed by Dave offering to buy her a new one. Matt smirked and walked back to sit with Ellis. Although they didn’t get along initially, Matt and Ellis were beginning to get close to each other. They both knew that they were openly gay, which was rare especially in teaching. 

Ellis wrapped his arm around Matt who leaned into it a little bit. The drink was making them get a little bit affectionate. “So Matt. How long have you been teaching?”

Matt looked at him. “Four years, this is my second year here at Waterloo Road.” Their conversation was cut off by Jasmine and Rob coming over to join them. Jasmine gave a knowing look to Matt who simply smiled back.

Steph quickly walked over to Grantly. “Hey, they are doing karaoke. Do you want to do a duet?”

Grantly looked at her. “Have you gone mad?”

Steph sighed. “Look, I just want to distract myself from the presence of him over there.” She looked over to Dave who simply smiled at her and nodded.

Grantly glanced over. “Fine, but you owe me for this.”

Steph led Grantly up to the podium and began to sing “Something Stupid”. Matt, Ellis, Jasmine and Rob glanced over to them. 

Jasmine chuckled. “Grantly Budgen singing karaoke? I never thought I’d see that.”

Matt downed his third vodka and stood up. “I need to get a better view of this.” 

Ellis did the same. “Me too.” The two boys both chuckled like teenagers and walked up to get a better view of them singing. 

Jasmine and Rob looked over to them both before Jasmine leaned in to whisper to Rob. “Is it me or do they look slightly smitten?”

Rob smirked. “It’s not just you, trust me.”

Matt and Ellis were enjoying every minute of it. They never ever thought that they'd see Grantly Budgen of all people singing a slushy love song. It was expected of Steph but certainly not of Grantly. Once the song had finished, they all cheered and Matt and Ellis took their seats on the sofa again. Melissa was up next to sing Like a Virgin by Madonna.

It wasn’t nearly as good as Steph and Grantly, but extremely waily and rather out of tune. The quad couldn’t help but laugh at her, but it was all in good fun.

Another few hours passed and the pub was beginning to empty out. Turns out, Ellis, Jasmine, Matt and Rob all lived on the same route to work. They took a quick detour to drop off Rob and Jasmine at their respective houses. Finally, they got to Ellis’ house. Matt walked him up to the doorway and they quickly hugged.

“Thanks for a goodnight, Matt.” Ellis smiled at him.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, yeah?” Matt smiled back and walked back to his house. Once he was inside, he kicked off his shoes and made a quick cup of tea before going into his bedroom and hopping into bed.

Outside, he heard sirens go past but he thought nothing of it. Probably just vandalism somewhere. He settled in for a night of sleep.

Matt woke up at around midnight with the buzzer going off constantly. He quickly got up out of bed and went to answer it. “Apartment 13?”  
He wasn’t expecting to hear Ellis’ rather alarmed voice on the other side. “Matt, it’s Ellis. Something has happened.”

Matt was confused about it, but he did sound alarmed. “Okay yeah, I’ll buzz you in.” Matt buzzed him and quickly slipped on some sweatpants to make himself look semi-decent. He opened the door and noticed Ellis carrying a small box as well as being covered in some soot.

“Dear god, Ellis. Come in. What happened?” Matt ushered him in and helped him place the box down. 

“The flat. There was a gas explosion.. Half of my flat is gone, including most of my things. That box is all I was able to recover.” Ellis gestured to the box which contained some clothes and some paperwork. “I’m homeless, Matt.”

Matt sighed. “No you're not, you can stay here with me for as long as you need. I’ve got some spare clothes you can wear as I think we are the same size. We can sort that out in the morning, you need to rest.” 

“Let me quickly set up the spare bedroom for you, I’m not having you sleep on the couch.” Matt quickly dashed into the spare room and got the bed ready for Ellis. Once it was ready, Ellis sat down on it and put his head in his hands. Matt joined him on the bed and pulled him close. “You’ll be alright, Ellis. We can sort things out.”

Ellis looked up at him. “What if I can’t, Matt? Everything I had was in that house. Money, Schoolwork, Clothes, Memories, everything. Sure the money and schoolwork and clothes can be replaced, but the memories can’t. My dead Mother’s jewellery was lost in the explosion. That was the last memory I had of my Mother.”

Matt pulled him even closer to his chest. “Listen, we can take time off tomorrow. We can arrange cover for our lessons. I’ll even phone Miss Mason in the morning and explain what’s happened. She’s very understanding and will try to help anyway you can.” Matt rubbed his temple and gently massaged Ellis on the back. “Is there anybody you can call?”

Ellis shook his head. “No. My sister lives in Australia. She’s the only family I’ve got.”

Matt sighed. “Look, you’ve had a hard night. I’ll let you get some rest now.”

Ellis smiled slightly at him. “You're great, do you know that?”

Matt chuckled. “I do try to be, night night.” Matt turned off some of the lights and went back to sleep in his own bedroom.


End file.
